Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Northeast Philadelphia Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Levittown, Pennsylvania 18901
Saturday, May 28, 2005 13:05 EDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
While returning to his departure airport on a traffic reporting flight, the pilot reported a loss of power and advised that he was going to land in a field. The airplane was then observed in its final moments of flight to parallel a road, then bank to the right and strike trees in a nose down inverted attitude. All major components of the airplane were accounted for at the accident site. No preimpact damage or malfunctions of the airplane or its powerplant were observed. No spillage, staining or smell of fuel was noted. The pilot was found in the right seat of the airplane. A portable video player and study materials for his flight instructors rating were found nearby and it was discovered that the pilot had on more than one occasion asked other pilots about doing maneuvers during traffic patrol flights.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
The pilot's improper in-flight planning which resulted in a total loss of engine power due to fuel exhaustion. A factor in the accident was the pilot's failure to maintain airspeed during the forced landing, resulting in an inadvertent stall and uncontrolled descent into trees.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Accident |
| Event Date | 5/28/2005 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1305 |
| Event Time Zone | Eastern Daylight Time |
| Event City | Levittown |
| Event State | PENNSYLVANIA |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 18901 |
| Event Date Year | 2005 |
| Event Date Month | 5 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 400835N |
| Event Location Longitude | 0745140W |
| Event Location Airport | Northeast Philadelphia Airport |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | PNE |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | 9.3 |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | 121 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | -- |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1254 Eastern Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 250 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | PNE |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 121 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 9 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | EDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Day |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | -- |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | -- |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 26 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 8 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 190 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 12 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29.8 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Fatal |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | 1 |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | -- |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 19735 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA EROC |
| NTSB Notification Date | May 28 2005 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | -- |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | May 30 2006 1:54PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\JOHB |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Philadelphia, PA. |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N9346L |
| NTSB Number | IAD05FA069 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 91: General Aviation |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | None |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | No |
| Damage | Substantial |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | American Aviation Corp. (AAC) |
| Aircraft Model | AA-1A |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | AA-1A-0046 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 1500 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | -- |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 2 |
| Number of Engines | 1 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Fixed |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | -- |
| Date of Last Inspection | -- |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | -- |
| Airframe Hours | -- |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | Yes |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Shaw Aviation Inc. |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 54 Hill Rd. |
| Aircraft Owner City | Ivyland |
| Aircraft Owner State | PA |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 18974 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | -- |
| Owner has at least one certificate | None |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | -- |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | -- |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | -- |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Aerial Observation |
| Second Pilot on Board | No |
| Departure Point Same as Event | No |
| Departure Airport Code | PNE |
| Departure City | Philadelphia |
| Departure State | PA |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1026 |
| Departure Time Zone | EDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | dest & departure same, accident can occur anywhere |
| Destination Airport Code | PNE |
| Destination City | -- |
| Destination State | -- |
| Destination Country | -- |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Cruise - normal |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Mar 19 2006 5:27PM |
| User who most recently changed record | MUZD |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | NA |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |